Now that she had received double compliments, Rosie went away with her pencil and continued with her creation.
While Summer returned to the kitchen, Leonardo approached the dining table and noticed that his favorite dishes were on it.
A thought came to mind, and he shuffled into the kitchen.
Summer was standing with her back facing him, waiting for the water to boil in the pot before pouring in some whisked eggs.
She was making egg and tomato soup.
As the water started to boil and she gradually poured in the egg, she sensed someone approach her from behind.
A man’s hand wrapped around her waist and another hand pulled her into his arms before she could look back.
Summer was startled. Her hand jerked, and she accidentally poured all of the whisked eggs into the pot at once. The eggs cooked fast and now looked like poached eggs.
Summer wasted no time talking but stirred the contents in the pot with a ladle, trying to salvage the dish. However, once stirred, it turned into egg drop soup.
Summer turned off the stove and looked back at Leonardo. “Get off me!”
The man hugging her from behind did not listen. “Just a short hug.”
He buried his face in her neck, his voice soft and muffled.
Summer hesitated and bit back her words.
She poured the soup out of the pot into a bowl, then slapped his hand. “I thought you said it was going to be ‘short’?”
Leonardo let go of her.
He stood up and stepped aside to take the bowl of soup out. The entire process was extremely fluid and pleasing to the eyes. Those with a good temperament would still look graceful even if they were just getting a bowl of soup from a small kitchen.
Summer went out after Leonardo and heard his voice. “It’s dinnertime, Rosie.”
“I’m still drawing.” Rosie sounded a bit impatient.
Leonardo walked over and said something. Then Rosie reluctantly put down her pencil and came to the dining table.
While Summer watched Rosie eat, a thought flashed through her mind.
She glanced at Leonardo abruptly and then at Rosie, knowing that it was not the right time to speak.
Leonardo caught sight of her eyes and raised his brow as if he had read her mind. Yet, he said nothing.
Rosie scurried off to continue her drawing right after dinner. Only then did Summer turn to Leonardo. “Something occurred to me earlier. How did Vicky learn about what happened on the island back then?”
Leonardo did not chime in but signaled her to continue, knowing that she was not done yet.
“Every time Vicky sees me, she mentions avenging Adams’s death. She has even cried about why we’re still alive but not Adams. She has never mentioned Rosie, though.”
Summer looked at him and noticed that he was unusually attentive, so she continued, “After the incident on the island, Kate put a lid on the matter, and not a single media outlet reported on the case. Even Adams’s death was reported as an accident that happened during one of his travels. If Adams had told Vicky about his plan before he headed to the island, she would have known our purpose of going there to bring Rosie back. She would have definitely been aware of Rosie’s existence. But she has never mentioned Rosie. I didn’t give it much thought before, assuming that Vicky was in the know.”
Summer waited for Leonardo to speak as she finished.
He was silent for a while. “Adams kept Vicky beside him only because she looks like Rachel. He was projecting his Saudade on Vicky. There was no way he would have told her about his plan.”
“You mean someone else told Vicky about Adams’s death?”
Leonardo just responded with an “mhm” before he narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking of something.
Summer ruminated on the time when Vicky sabotaged the braking system in Stanley’s vehicle and was arrested but released later.
“The person who knows what happened on the island is not some ordinary figure. I suspect that the person who told Vicky about this is the same person who bailed her out of the police lockup.”
Someone who could get Vicky out of jail even though the evidence against her was overwhelming had to be either rich or powerful, or even both.
It was not a thing of surprise for the rich and powerful to know about the actual cause of Adams’s death.
Since Kate had put a lid on the incident back then, she naturally had no reason to tell Vicky about it. Kate knew what she was doing. She would not do something that did not benefit her.
“If it’s not Kate, who could it be?” Summer looked at Leonardo.
“Take a guess.” His lips curled up with interest.
“How-How would I know?” She had actually thought of something. She was just not very sure.
Nevertheless, Leonardo had read her mind. “Just speak your mind if anything comes to you. Who knows, you could be right?”
She pursed her lips. “Could it be someone from the Emerson Family?”
Leonardo looked at her with a half-smile, his expression seemingly telling her to continue.
She gritted her teeth and spelled out the name. “Michael Emerson, your father.”
Leonardo’s half-smile turned into a broad smile.
Seeing his expression, her face changed. “Are you suspicious of him too?”
She only came to the conclusion by using the method of elimination. Since the Emerson Family had covered up the news, it was only normal that someone from the Emerson Family leaked the information out.
Among the Emerson Family members, Kate did not have the motivation to do so, which only left a few of Leonardo’s uncles as suspects.
However, Leonardo and his uncles were not close. They depended on Leonardo to stay in Emerson Group to maintain their lavish lifestyles. They would not take the risk to offend Leonardo.
So naturally, Michael was the prime suspect, more so because of his unusual relationship with Adams.
“It’s time to pay him a courtesy visit.”
Leonardo’s response implied that he had the same line of thought as Summer.
By revealing the cause of Adams’s death to Vicky, she would hate Summer, as well as Leonardo, and go after them. At the same time, he could figure out if Summer and Leonardo were still together.
Due to the case involving Leonardo’s mom, Michael probably knew well that Leonardo would not seek him, and he would have no opportunity to lay his hands on Leonardo. All he could do was direct Vicky to cause trouble for them.
With the level of hatred that Vicky had, who knows, she might one day come after Leonardo although all she dared to do was target Summer alone for now.
Besides, while Michael was no different from a basket case, the body of a starved camel was still bigger than that of a living horse. As long as Vicky wanted to seek vengeance, he would surely find a way to help her.